1. Field
The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system with multiple transmission modes.
2. Background
A MIMO system employs multiple (NT) transmit antennas and multiple (NR) receive antennas for data transmission and is denoted as an (NT, NR) system. A MIMO channel formed by the NT transmit and NR receive antennas may be decomposed into NS spatial channels, where NS≦min {NT, NR}. The NS spatial channels may be used to transmit NS independent data streams to achieve greater overall throughput. In general, spatial processing may or may not be performed at a transmitter and is normally performed at a receiver to simultaneously transmit and recover multiple data streams.
A conventional MIMO system typically uses a specific transmission scheme to simultaneously transmit multiple data streams. This transmission scheme may be selected based on a trade-off of various factors such as the requirements of the system, the amount of feedback from the receiver to the transmitter, the capabilities of the transmitter and receiver, and so on. The transmitter, receiver, and system are then designed to support and operate in accordance with the selected transmission scheme. This transmission scheme typically has favorable features as well as unfavorable ones, which can impact system performance.
There is therefore a need in the art for a MIMO system capable of achieving improved performance.